CLITHEROE KID

The Clitheroe Kid was a long-running BBC radio comedy show featuring diminutive Northern comedian Jimmy Clitheroe in the role of a cheeky schoolboy, who lived with his family at 33 Lilac Avenue in an un-named town in the north of England. Jimmy's best friend was Ozzie, alias Oswald Higginbottom, a character who was only heard of second-hand and didn't actually appear. The pilot show, pilot series, and 16 subsequent series totalled 290 episodes in all, broadcast between April 1957 and August 13, 1972.

Apart from Clitheroe, the show's stars included Peter Sinclair playing Clitheroe's Scottish granddad, Patricia Burke as his mother (in some early shows the part was played by Renee Houston), and Diana Day as his long-suffering sister Susan (in some early shows his sister was played by Judith Chalmers). The Oldham comedian Danny Ross played Alfie Hall, Susan's daft, tongue-tied boyfriend, who was often drawn into Jimmy's reckless schemes and never learned to steer clear of him. And Tony Melody played Mr Higginbottom, a six foot four inch taxi driver who constantly threatened to give Jimmy a good hiding for what he had done to Ozzie. Horatio Higginbottom (the first name was very rarely used) was also Granddad's drinking partner.

Jimmy Clitheroe was 35 when he started playing the part in 1956, but he could pass as an 11-year-old boy because he had never grown physically beyond that age, though in later years his face gave his real age away. The series was made with a studio audience and there were frequent gales of laughter at Jimmy's schoolboy humour, as well as at Alfie Hall's mangling of the English language as he tried to explain something and made it worse.

Jimmy wore a schoolboy blazer and cap even for radio recordings, to maintain the appearance that he was 11 years old. Real children never appeared in the show, as this would have given away that Jimmy was an adult acting a part; so he talked of his pal Ozzie and his friends in the "Black Hand Gang" (who would punish any member caught in the company of a girl) but they never actually appeared.

The humour could seem sharp, and if read in the cold light of day might occasionally seem harsh, but this was because it was supposed to be the humour of a schoolboy. The audience accepted this and roared with laughter at it.

Jimmy referred to his teachers by nicknames such as "Umm-ya Pete" and "Tick Tock Tillie". His grandfather's Scottish ancestry was endlessly mocked, with talk of haggises and bagpipes, and he was portrayed as someone who only lived for his beer. Jimmy's sister Susan was usually referred to as "Scraggy-neck", "Sparrow-legs" or occasionally "the Octopus" (for her clinches with boyfriend Alfie), though she in turn often had a go at her "little brother" (Jimmy was only 4 ft 3 ins). For example, in one show (entitled 'Enough to Make a Kitten Laugh') Susan tricked Jimmy into buying back a lost kitten that he had sold to Ozzie, by offering a big reward in the local newspaper for its return (under an assumed name). She warned Mr Higginbottom that Jimmy wanted it back, so Jimmy had to pay double what Ozzie had paid him for it. When Jimmy discovered the trick, he turned the tables on her by selling the kitten (at a profit) to a man at the newspaper, who then turned up at the Clitheroe's home and demanded from her the reward she'd offered.

Alfie, too, was mocked endlessly; but the daft character portrayed by Danny Ross probably never understood the insults. Mr Higginbottom was also mocked whenever he appeared: among other things, his house was said to be rat-infested and a dump. But Jimmy was very careful about this as Higginbottom had a hair-trigger temper. Higginbottom's son, the much-maligned Ozzie, was a fat kid who (despite being Jimmy's best friend) was knocked about by him a goodly number of times, and frequently suffered as a result of Jimmy's schemes. But Ozzie seemed to feel it was safer to be Jimmy's friend than his enemy!

The one person who escaped Jimmy's quick wit on the radio was his mother. In real life his father had died and he lived with his widowed mother, and was devoted to her. Jimmy would not stand for his mother being mocked, even if it were only his fictional mother on the radio.

Jimmy's radio character frequently listened at keyholes, where he usually got the wrong end of the stick. Even when he tried to do good, as when he thought his granddad had stolen some money from a local shop (but which granddad had actually been given to look after), he usually messed things up, with the help of Alfie Hall. After the end credits, a short piece by Jimmy was usually inserted where he winds-up the show, tying up any loose ends in the plot and often reporting that Granddad had spanked him for what he had done.

The show (apart from the Pilot series) was written by James Casey and Frank Roscoe, and produced by James Casey.

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EPISODES LIST

590209 207 Clitheroe and the Hound-Dog610306 403 Grandad's Back610403 407 The Girl Who Got the Message610410 408 The Not-So-Welcome Guest610417 409 The Keyhole Kid610424 410 The Wreck of the Soppy Sue620205 511 Lend Me An Ear620212 512 The Day I Told the Truth620219 513 Ive Got Them Taped620312 516 I Was A Stupid Cupid620319 517 James - Mr Piano Clitheroe621105 602 What a Guy621119 604 Smile Please621126 605 When Grandad Papered the Parlour621210 607 Accidents Will Happen621231 610 Jims Highland Fling630107 611 Next Door to Trouble630114 612 Love Me Love My Dog630121 613 Too Much to Swallow630128 614 Dial Jim for Trouble630204 615 Trouble From the Kick Off630211 616 Don't Shoot the Pianist630218 617 The Patients Dilemma630304 619 The Quiz Kid631110 701 No Holes Barred631117 702 Tramp, Tramp, Tramp631124 703 Playing with Fire631201 704 Love and Marriage631208 705 Vote for Grandad631215 706 Three of a Kind631229 708 A Load of Chinese Junk640216 715 Back to the Dressing Room640223 716 The Kid With Nine Lives640301 717 A Right Roman Holiday640308 718 Nothing but the Tooth641122 806 One Jump Behind641129 807 James Bond Junior641206 808 The Kid Makes History641227 811 Double Trouble650117 814 Help It's A Girl650228 820 Its All in the Mind651010 901 Jim and the Headless Piper651017 902 The Mystery of the Haggis651024 903 For My Next Trick651031 904 The Evils of Tomato Juice651107 905 Another Mother for Ozzie651114 906 Grandads Mystery Illness651128 908 The Unlucky Mascot651205 909 The Case of the Crooked Parson660102 913 The Sunday I Met Man Friday660109 914 One Good Twist Deserves Another660116 915 Give A Little Whistle660123 916 Penny Foolish660130 917 Watch the Birdie660206 918 Too Many Sisters660220 920 The Best of Indian Luck670212 1020 Nothing Like Music670226 1022 No Time for Higginbottom670319 1025 The Kid from Auntie670326 1026 Beware of the Bike671008 1102 Beware of the Neighbour671015 1103 Robbin Jim and His Merry Men671210 1111 Have Snake Will Travel680114 1116 For Love and Money681027 1203 Who Sold Cock Robin681208 1209 Stop the Wedding I Want To Get Off690119 1215 A Love-In Has Been Arranged690209 1218 Two Sides to Every Story690817 1301 It's Quicker By Dream690824 1302 Take A Running Walk690907 1304 Anymore for the Beach690914 1305 Private Alfie General Twit690928 1307 Never Believe What You Hear691012 1309 It Shouldnt Happen to a Grandad691019 1310 Someone Somewhere Wants A Letter691130 1316 Tickets for the Punch-Up691214 1318 Heat the Test-Tube and Run700517 1401 Get Well Soon Grandad700524 1402 Grandad for President700531 1403 Good for Money700614 1405 Not In Front of the Parrot700621 1406 Out of the Mouths of Puppies700705 1408 All At Sea With A Sailor700719 1410 Seated One Day At The Movies700726 1411 Once More Into The Vicarage700802 1412 A Right Son of a Gun700809 1413 There Was A Farmer A Scottish Farmer700816 1414 Keep Jim Off the Road700830 1416 Taken to the Cleaners700906 1417 James The Modest Hero700916 1418 No License for Jim700923 1419 A Touch of Competition Fever700930 1420 For Singing Out Loud710404 1501 All I Want Is A Room Somewhere710411 1502 Dont Shout Im Only Acting710418 1503 Go West Old Man710425 1504 Once Upon a Cup-Tie710502 1505 Jobs for the Ladies710509 1506 Tennis Just Isnt Cricket710516 1507 Whatever Happened to Grandad710523 1508 History Is a Thing of the Past710530 1509 Is There A Boss in the House710606 1510 In At the Deep End710613 1511 Licked By a Stamp710620 1512 Gone Fishing710627 1513 Thinking About a Holiday720521 1601 My Great Aunts Great720528 1602 Why Mothers Leave Home720604 1603 The Day the Fun Fair Hit Town720611 1604 If You Can't Keep A Secret Sell It720618 1605 The Swiss Family Clitheroe720625 1606 The Romantic Higginbottoms720702 1607 Why Must the Show Go On720709 1608 A Letter from America for Grandad720723 1610 Money for Old Gold720730 1611 Enough to Make a Kitten Laugh720806 1612 Wheres the Stage and Whats the Play720813 1613 Whats the Welsh for TroubleAll there with my cough drops

Item number

OTR-2CD-ClitheroeKid

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